Combine or archive out-of-print edition confusing readers (Heaven) > Likes and Comments

Hi,
I'm posting here since this is about editions of the same book. I'm illustrating the problem with Book 1 of a series; the same situation applies across the rest of the series, and I'll follow up separately once I know the right approach.

A quick note: these are all ebooks, not print. That matters because an out-of-print ebook has no purchasable copy anywhere. It's not like a print book that still exists as a physical object someone could find. It's just a dead storefront link.

Book A — original edition of Heaven: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Published by a press that's now out of business. No longer available; the Amazon link is dead.

Book B — related short story Pretty Red Ribbon (originally published separately): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
Also out of print. Its Amazon link now redirects to a generic search for "ribbons."

Book C — current edition of Heaven "remixed": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Self-published by me, currently for sale. Same story as Book A, expanded, and now includes the short story from Book B.

Here's my problem: readers keep landing on Book A and Book B — both dead, both unpurchasable — before they ever find Book C, which is the only edition they can actually buy. I've updated the descriptions on A and B to point to C, but that hasn't solved the underlying issue: the unavailable editions are still what readers see first.

I raised this in another forum and was told Book C likely can't be combined with A/B as an edition since it contains additional content (the short story). I understand that reasoning, but I'm stuck on what — if anything — can be done here. Is there a path forward for a situation like this, or am I out of options?

Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to look at this.

You can combine your own books, as well as set the default edition.

We do not remove (or "archive") out of print books, not even e-books. Readers are not confused by the fact that another version of their book existed before they got their copy.

Thanks. I would have done that myself but there's a librarian note directly on the book's Edit page (left Dec 2021 by Marlobo) that says: "This edition contains 2 stories: Heaven and Pretty Red Ribbon. Please, don't combine with the book of equal title but only one story."

I didn't want to override standing guidance without checking first.

Given everything discussed in this thread, is that note still the right guidance, or has anything changed since 2021 that would let this combine go through? If it's still current, I understand and will leave it as is. If not, is it something you (or whoever left it) can update or clear so I can go ahead and combine Book A and Book C myself?

Thanks again for your patience working through this with me.

Correct, books with different contents should not be combined.

Thanks for confirming. One more question on this, if you don't mind: I saw in another thread that a book with existing ratings can be marked "invalid" rather than deleted, when full removal isn't possible — would that apply here for Book A and B? I don't need them gone, just not surfacing ahead of the current edition.

Worth flagging: this same situation exists for the rest of the series too (books 2 through 4 of the series, plus their related short stories) — 6 more books with the identical original/expanded-edition split. I'm starting with just this one set to make sure whatever we land on actually works before I bring the rest here.

Again, we don't remove books that have been published.

If you are referring to the issue regarding someone's fan fiction, that is particular to that type of item. GR will remove fan fiction on author's request, because they are not really published books.